ABSTRACT
Although Juliana Kweifio-Okai was the first formally trained Ghanaian fashion designer, it is imperative to acknowledge the women who preceded her and who informally contributed to Accra’s fashion culture. Laura Quartey, as a self-described seamstress, and Letitia Obeng, a sartorially concerned scientist, represent two distinct modes for contributing to Ghanaian fashion that exist beyond the realm of designer fashions. An assessment of Quartey’s career is followed by an examination of her surviving designs, which indicate an early approach to Ghanaian fashion: creating European-inspired garments for Accra’s elite. As a foil to Quartey, Obeng’s contribution is primarily her influential fashion show, which celebrated and promoted the kaba, a historically rooted local form of dress. The designs of both women indicate two key spheres of Independence-era fashion that ultimately contributed to the development of Accra’s designer fashion culture. The chapter indirectly argues for the importance of delving deeper into history to better understand the complexities of Accra’s contemporary fashion culture.
